Mother's Banner of Love and Comfort

Art Historical Context

In 1845, Rebecca Landon created “Mother’s Banner of Love and Comfort,” a drawing rendered in pen with blue and red ink on paper that has been mounted on cotton fabric. This unusual combination of materials suggests the work was meant to function as a lasting, displayable banner rather than a fragile sheet kept in a portfolio. The colored inks lend a lively, personal touch to the composition, while the fabric backing adds durability and a textile quality that echoes domestic needlework traditions of the period. Measuring roughly 60 by 45 centimeters, the piece invites close viewing, its scale suited to a home setting where messages of maternal affection could be seen daily. Landon’s choice to mount paper on cloth reflects a practical ingenuity common among 19th-century artists who sought both artistic expression and everyday usefulness. Now part of the National Gallery of Art’s collection through the gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, the banner offers today’s visitors an intimate glimpse of mid-19th-century values centered on family love and comfort, preserved in a form that merges drawing and textile traditions.